Buffalo, Bison and Cattle, are they all the same? And if not, what is the difference? Buffaloes, Bison and Cattle all belong to the Bovidae family, they do however have quite some difference between them.
One of the key distinctions between cattle and bison has to be the role of domestication. Cattle have been domesticated for more than years. This results in animals much more accustom to human farming. Bison , however, are generally still considered wild animals , even though there are some bison farms out there. Bison are also more resilient to whether conditions, require little to no shelter and prefer grazing over being feed.
Another big difference is the use of these animals, Bison are not used for milk production. They are only breed to produce meat on a commercial scale. There is however one other kind of milk, which is sometimes found in stores: Buffalo Milk. So what is the difference between Buffaloes and Bison?
Bison and Buffaloes are often confused with each other, but there are some key differences between these two bovines, which can help you to tell them apart. While being part of the same family, Buffaloes have been domesticated , unlike Bison. To easily distinguish between Bison and Buffaloes, you can look at their horns. Bison in general do have smaller horns similar to regular cattle.
Buffaloes, on the other hand, have much larger horns, used for protection. As mentioned Buffaloes are also used for milk production. While there are a lot of different Buffaloes types, most commonly used are Asian Water Buffaloes.
Because of the difference in location Bison and Buffaloes developed some distinct trades, to adjust to local climate. Bison, for example, are more cold resistant and can live in places like Wyoming. They do however share more common ground, when compared to normal cattle. Compared to Cattle, Bisons, and Buffaloes are build with broader features and are generally bigger in size. As we shall see later, behaviorists have all noted the mobility of bison compared to domestic cattle as well as many other ungulates.
Although this rocking gait is efficient, it is not particularly rapid. However, since the termination of the last Ice Age, most of the larger predators that posed a threat to bison went extinct, freeing bison of the need to outrun predators as a predator avoidance tactic.
Wolves were the only predator other than humans that posed any threat to bison. The large size of bison is an effective defense against predation by other predator species. Recent predator-prey studies between wolves and bison have shown that calves and older adults make up the majority of prey for wolves, while healthy adults are relatively safe from attack Carbyn, et. Furthermore, where wolves have a choice of alternative smaller prey such as elk or deer, bison are seldom prey upon.
Prior to the adoption of the horse by Native Americans, most human bison predation was opportunistic relying upon bison jumps or occasional vulnerability created by deep snow. As a consequence, they were easily run down on horses Guthrie, ; Urness, There is evidence that once Native Americans obtained the horse, they were able to exterminate small, marginal populations in some of the peripheral portions of their range, particularly in southeast Idaho and northern Utah Urness, By contrast, cattle, which evolved in moister woodland environments more characteristic of early woodland forms of bison, lack the well-developed features of bison that are adaptations to short grass plains environments, including the downward rotation of the head relative to the vertebral column.
Plus, cattle tend to have longer legs this varies among breeds , and a straight back which may permit short term burst of speed, but are not useful for long distance movement. Not only are cattle less mobile by nature, domestic breeding programs have resulted in animals that are even more obese and less fit for long distance movement.
Many studies have documented the more persistent movement of bison compared to cattle. Bison tended to stray further from water sources, used steeper terrain and higher elevations than cattle.
Van Vuren also noted that bison seldom stayed in one location more than 3 days. According to Lott who has studied free roaming bison introduced to Catalina Island in California, bison had much larger home ranges than nearly all species of African ungulates, except for during migration periods.
Carbyn and his colleagues Carbyn et al. Meagher noted that though bison may have a strong fidelity to a home territory, they do make sudden movements of considerable distance. Such sudden movements were noted by many early travelers on the plains as well. It seemed like magic. Where could they have gone? I asked myself this question again and again, but in vain. Not only do bison move more frequently than cattle, but their selection of habitat within the landscape is also different.
In northern Colorado, Peden et. Similarly, Norland reported that bison would go to water once a day. In both studies it was noted that bison appeared to prefer drier forage, spent less time in swales and depressions where soil moisture was higher than might be expected.
Cattle, on the other hand, are less efficient water users and display a marked preference for moister forage. Similarly, Smith Smith et. The negative effects of domestic cattle on riparian ecosystems are well documented GAO, , Kauffman, and Krueger, as is the ecological value of riparian areas to wildlife Chaney, et al.
Because of their natural propensity to linger in riparian areas or wetlands, domestic cattle pose a far greater threat to arid land biodiversity than native species like bison. Preventing damage by livestock to riparian areas requires capital investments in upland water development, fencing, salting, and riding—all of which increase the costs per unit of production, quickly exceeding the financial return upon investment in many arid western rangelands, unless costs are subsidized Holechek, Peden Peden et al.
This gives them a competitive advantage on native grasslands where forage quality varies seasonally. Plus the ability to utilize lower quality forage results in better distribution of herbivory pressure on rangelands grazed by bison than under livestock usage. A comparison of digestion between domestic cattle, bison and Tibetan yak Schaefer, et al.
This may be one reason that bison can survive and persist on ranges where cattle perish without supplemental feed. Furthermore, bison are able to forage in deep snow Meagher, , Carbyn et.
Bison also have a hide of higher insulative value than cattle Peters and Slen, , another adaptation to harsh winters and seasonal food limitations. The factors listed above explain some of the differences between cattle and bison utilization of the landscape. Bison naturally wander widely, far more than cattle, even under essentially open range conditions Pinchak et.
Although there are historical accounts documenting that bison occasionally heavily grazed an area, it would be incorrect to assume that bison carpeted the plains as one great mowing machine. Many early travelers on the plains noted both the abundance and the absence of bison and other large ungulates due to seasonal movements and other factors. For example, in while returning from the Pacific, Captain Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition traversed nearly miles of Montana from the Continental Divide in the Big Hole Valley near the Idaho border, down to the Missouri headwaters confluence, across the Gallatin Valley and down the Upper Yellowstone to where the town of Big Timber, Montana now sits before they were successful in seeing and killing a single bison.
Their Indian guide, Sacajawea informed Clark that the bison were once numerous in the Upper Missouri headwaters, but had been driven away by heavy Indian hunting. Finally, bison interact with other native species in ways not typically observed with domestic livestock, that may result in reciprocal ecological relationships between different native species.
For example, it was noted that bison tended to graze areas around prairie dog towns, thus enjoying succulent new regrowth of plants previously cropped by prairie dogs while at the same time reducing the grass cover which benefited the rodents by making it easier to spot predators Coppock et.
In addition to the above morphological and behavioral characteristics, a good portion of the West, particularly the majority of public rangelands that are located in the Intermountain West and Southwest consist of ecosystems that historically did not support large herds of bison, if at all.
These include most of the sagebrush steppe of the Intermountain West, the Southwest desert regions and the palouse grasslands of Washington and eastern Idaho Miller et al. A number of researchers have commented upon the historic absence or small numbers of bison in the sagebrush-steppe zone west of South Pass, Wyoming and total absence from the Great Basin Sagebrush deserts.
However, they were absent from many other portions of the Intermountain West such as the Great Basin Sagebrush deserts of Nevada, the desert grasslands of Arizona and elsewhere west of the Rockies Reynolds et. Other large ungulates such as elk, deer, antelope, and bighorn sheep were also patchily distributed or even absent from large areas of these semi-desert and desert regions according to early historic accounts, with bighorn sheep and antelope being the most numerous large animals Davis, ; Ogden, ; Simpson, There is evidence that suggests that even where bison were found, their numbers were small, and distribution was patchy.
Periods of favorable climatic and forage conditions probably enabled intermittent recolonization of suitable habitat by herds moving in from the plains. However, deformities among the skulls and teeth of bison remains from eastern Oregon suggest such periodic recolonizations were infrequent occurrences and these populations were isolated, locally inbred populations McDonald, A number of people have addressed this issue.
Daubenmire argued that protein deficiencies of native bunchgrass rangelands, along with occasional deep snowfalls limited bison populations along their western margins—although as seen earlier, bison are more efficient at extracting nutrients from forage than other ruminants Peden et al. Mack and Thompson suggested that grass phenology may have limited bison reproduction compared to the plains. While cool season grasses provide plenty of protein early in the spring, early onset of dormancy in summer, with a consequent loss of nutritive value, may have stressed lactating female bison.
On the plains, a mixture of cool season and warm season grasses extend the season of high nutrient food resources, permitting greater exploitation by bison.
Van Vuren has postulated that bison living on rangelands in the Intermountain West found forage inadequate to sustain large numbers of bison except for a few locations. Frequent local extinctions due to weather, human hunting, or the effects of inbreeding, with slow recolonization, rates may have kept bison numbers exceedingly low over this region and may account for the relative lack of historic sightings and limited distribution.
Further evidence to the absence or limited distribution of bison throughout the Intermountain West comes from the native vegetation itself. The native vegetation of these regions has no previous evolutionary experience or adaptation Mack and Thompson, to persistent, heavy grazing and trampling.
These crusts are important for nitrogen fixation, reduced overland flow, and increased moisture infiltration and often enhance native vegetation establishment and growth Harper and Pendleton, Most researchers agree that livestock destroy such crusts through trampling Anderson, et. Unlike the rhizomatous Great Plains grass species dominated by blue grama Bueteloua gracilis and buffalo grass Buchloe dactyloides that seem to tolerate grazing pressure, the native vegetation in this region including dominants like bluebunch wheatgrass Agropyron spicatum , Idaho fescue Festuca idahoensis , and Indian ricegrass Oryzopsis hymenodies , are caespitose or bunchgrasses, and thus less tolerant of both grazing and trampling Mack and Thompson, , Mack, The net effect of livestock introduction into regions where bison numbers were restricted or absent is a significant loss of native biodiversity and major shifts in ecosystem function.
For example, for the 10, years prior to European settlement the flora of the sagebrush steppe remained essentially unchanged, although migrations up and down mountains due to shifting climatic conditions did occur Miller, et.
Due to their respective evolutionary histories, a variety of behavioral, biological and ecological differences exist between bison and cattle.
Cattle are poorly adapted for a dry, arid landscape with rugged terrain, and the consequences of their evolutionary heritage may lead to degraded rangelands Jacobs, Wild free-roaming bison, on the other hand, are more favorably adjusted to their environment, and were sustained for thousands of years without contributing to serious degradation of rangeland ecosystems.
Since substantial differences in behavior and habitat use and selection exist between bison and cattle, it may be erroneous to suggest that domestic livestock fill a vacant niche left by the extirpation of the bison. Rather cattle should more properly be viewed as a new ecological force that differs significantly from the native species.
Furthermore, some native ecosystems apparently did not support bison in any numbers or they were completely absent. In particular, much of the Great Basin, Palouse Prairie, Southwest deserts, and California annual grasslands evolved without the presence of bison. These native rangeland ecosystems display limited tolerance to grazing pressure of any kind Jones et.
Indeed, in many of these areas large groups of any kind of herding animal were only of local abundance or completely absent Holechek et al.
Under grazing pressure from domestic animals these arid landscapes have not adapted or thrived in the presence of domestic livestock as some suggest Savory, , rather they have shown substantial degradation. Careful attention to the evolutionary histories of both native species and ecosystem development may prevent degradation of ecosystem function and loss of native biodiversity.
The assertion that exotic animals are a replacement for native species should be scrutinized closely before it is assumed gross outward similarities really translate into similar use of the landscape. Your email address will not be published. Geist, ; Guthrie, ; McDonald, Morphological adaptations of the bison to facilitate existence in a grassland environment include the downward rotation of the head relative to the vertebral column, along with the lateral placement of the eye orbits which permits maintenance of visual contact with the herd as well as predator detection while grazing.
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